The proposed $250 bill would be the first living person to appear on a U.S. banknote in more than a century.
Published May 29, 2026
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a new $250 bill featuring President Donald Trump’s face is being prepared for printing, and that lawmakers will decide whether it goes into circulation.
U.S. law prohibits living people from appearing on U.S. banknotes, but a bill was introduced last year that would create an exception to allow current and former presidents to appear.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Bessent said the design had been prepared in anticipation of the law change.
“Currently, there are bills being proposed in the House and Senate that would change the primary requirement so that a living person, Donald J. Trump, could be on the $250 bill,” Bessent said.
Bessent made the comments after The Washington Post reported that Trump-appointed Treasury Secretary Brandon Beach is pressuring the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to expedite the issuance of new banknotes commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having the president of the United States, someone who is the president of the United States, participate in the 250th anniversary bill,” Bessent told reporters.
A mock-up of the design, obtained by The Washington Post, had the words “America’s 250th Anniversary” written on it, a nod to the United States’ declaration of independence on July 4, 1776.
The Ministry of Finance did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
actions of dictators and monarchs
The bill featuring Trump’s face would be the latest example of the president expanding his personal brand in a public capacity since returning to the White House in 2025.
Banners featuring President Trump’s portrait have been hung at the Justice Department and other federal buildings.
And his name was added to the Kennedy Center Trustee’s list of appointees to the National Performing Arts Complex, which Congress had originally designated as a memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
Trump’s signature will also appear on U.S. banknotes as part of plans to mark his 250th birthday, making him the first sitting president to do so.
Previously, U.S. banknotes bore the signatures of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of the Treasury.
In March, the American Board of Fine Arts, headed by Trump appointee Rodney Mims Cook Jr., approved the minting of a commemorative gold coin depicting the Republican president’s likeness.
The announcement, which took advantage of a legal loophole in commemorative coins, prompted a backlash from critics who likened the move to the actions of a dictator or monarch.
